Philips G380 Beard Trimmer

This winter I decided to try my hand (or should I say face)growing a goatee. After 2 weeks I liked it, but realized if I didn't find a way to trim it up I'd end up looking like Grizzly Adams.

As a very pleased owner of a Norelco Quadra Action 7825 XL Shaver, I decided to stick with Norelco for no other reason than they've never let me down yet.

After looking at the entire selection of trimmers, I was interested in the All-in-1 systems that for roughly the same price as a dedicated beard trimmer I could also get a mini shaver, hair clipper, nose/ear/eyebrow trimmer, and precision trimmer. So I settled on the Norelco G290 and went to Best Buy to redeem some gift cards that I had.

However, Best Buy didn't carry the G290 as indicated on their website. Instead they carried the new G380. Great, I didn't read any reviews on this model. However, it appeared identical to the G290, but a banner callout mentioned "New rinsable attachments". So I bought the G380 because it had the same features and was at the same price as the G290.

I bought this trimmer for 3 reasons:

1) Self-sharpening blades. Norelco blades are expensive for the shavers, so I didn't want to sink any more money into dull blades in the future.

2) Maintenance free: no lubrication needed. We have a Wahl trimmer which we cut our boys hair to give them crew cuts, but that trimmer requires oiling. I didn't want to have to deal with this.

3) The versatility of the 5 attachments.

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Here's how the 5 attachments work in real life:

BEARD & MOUSTACHE TRIMMER
The unique Accu-Control System by Norelco is simply a plastic flexing guide comb that slips over the main trimmer and automatically follows the contour of your face. It features 9 locking length settings trimming the hair either 2mm at the shortest and up to 18mm at the longest. If you remove the guide, the cutter leaves a short stubble.

In real life testing the guide really does follow the contour of my face and it's really easy to use. The guide locks into place with no fear of slipping to a shorter setting giving you that "oops" and really making a mess of your beard. The trimmer cuts wonderfully and does not pull, pinch, or hurt.

HAIR CLIPPER
The hair clipper is a plastic guide as well for the purpose of trimming the hair on your head. The only difference is it's not flexible and does not follow any contours. The intention is not to shave off a mop head of hair, but rather to keep a short haircut trimmed and in order.

PRECISION TRIMMER
The precision trimmer is a mini-version of the main trimmer, about 1/3 as wide. The intent is when the main blade is too wide to trim up areas around your beard, ears, etc, the mini trimmer head can be used instead to reach and cut into these smaller areas. It cuts just as well as the main trimmer.

NOSE, EAR, & EYEBROW TRIMMER
While most people don't like to talk about nose or ear hair, most people don't like looking at your nose or ear hair either. So, let's talk about it nevertheless. The trimmer is a rotating attachment blade that fits easily in your nose and does cut well. There is a small tickling sensation, but that is to be expected. I did have one hair pull instead of cut, and I did flinch. But I think it's simple getting used to cutting with the cutter in a sensitive area of the face. I don't struggle with ear or eyebrow hair, but believe it would work just as easily as it does for the nose.

MINI SHAVER
Now, this is an attachment that I don't know why they bothered to create. I believe the intent is to get a close shave next to your beard or moustache where you normal shaver can't reach, but it does a lousy job giving you a close shave at this transition point. Instead, I use my regular 3-blade Norelco shaver to get a close shave next to my goatee.

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Do be aware of:

1) Cordless use only. This trimmer can not be used with the charger plugged in. It will take approximately 10 hours to fully charge the Groomer for a cordless trimming time of about 35 minutes. So if you're in the middle of a trim and the battery goes dead, you can't just plug it in and finish the job. Instead they recommend you let it charge for 3 hours to get an additional 10 minute charge.

One would think to just leave it in the charger all the time and avoid the above scenario. However, to optimize the working life of the battery they recommend that you do not recharge the Groomer between trimmings, but instead continue to use the trimmer until the battery is completely dead. I read several reviews for the earlier G290 model that the battery didn't last very long - but upon further probing they didn't not follow the battery optimization recommendations and simply left it on the charger.

The goal would be to optimize the battery for long life, but on the other hand if you're in the middle of a beard trim on the way to work and it goes dead, one doesn't care to be the blunt of office jokes as you walk into the office with a half trimmed beard/mustache. There is no indicator at what level the battery is charged. This is unfortunate. I guess make sure you do your trimming at least 10 hours before any "important" event just in case the Groomer goes dead, then you'll have 10 hours to recharge.

2) It's messy, but not the Groomer's fault. After trimming my goatee the entire sink is covered in little hairs. I now understand why they sell vacuum trimmers. I'd highly consider the vacuum if I were in the market for a new trimmer.

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Other than the 3 things I mentioned: mini shaver, battery, and mess - I'm very happy with the shaver.